


Grand Line Carnival

by oceankat8



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But he doesn't tell anyone that, Carnival AU, Clowns, Creepy, Law used to work at Doflamingo's carnival and it gave him PTSD, Luffy's crew also being accidentaly creepy, M/M, No Beta, Whatever Luffy is it probably isn't human, a lot of the creepy is accidental, horror themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 04:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21451933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceankat8/pseuds/oceankat8
Summary: Law doesn't want to go to a carnival ever again, but his crew doesn't know that and they insist that he has been spending far too much time in the hospital. So he's stuck, but at least he's with friends, now if only he could get that weird stranger off his mind.Or better yet, Stop running into him everywhere. Literally.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	1. Introductions are Made

It was dark, but that never really mattered when your work was in the hospital. And Law was _always_ in the hospital.

“Aren’t you supposed to be off by now?” Penguin asked, stealing a tater-tot off his tray. Law just glared, letting him, it wasn’t like he was going to eat it. Law hadn’t had an actual appetite in years.

“Got called back in, the pile-up from earlier left a large amount of people in the OR”

He was practically grumbling into his un-touched food, his eyes kept open only due to the weight of the bags beneath them. He’s the only competent cardiovascular surgeon in the entire hospital, so some of them should have been sent somewhere else, but the Town had certain rules, so he was stuck saving the lives of at least half a dozen people in the course of one night. He barely even noticed Shachi stealing his last tot.

“Well, they certainly weren’t asking for your bedside manner”

Law just glared, he was an intimidating man, tall and covered with tattoos and piercings with an almost unnatural eye color, so he was often able to escape unwanted conversations by simply scaring people off. It was especially useful when new interns were taking turns being irritating, and Law just wanted some peace and quiet to himself. However, his crew had long since gained immunity to any of the many intimidation tactics he had perfected.

“What?” Shachi teased, “you gonna pretend you play nice to clinic patients?”

“I’m not paid to coddle our clients, this isn’t a retail job. If some idiot doesn’t want to give their kid a fucking vaccine-“

But he was cut off before his rant could properly begin, the door to the cafeteria slamming open as a large man the size of a bear walked in. All the fight and irritation fled from Law, causing him to slump even further into the table, held up only by his cane at this point.

It wasn’t functional in the way a shorter cane would be for an injured leg or foot, and many people joked he carried it around only to hit people with when they disagreed with him, but he wouldn’t go anywhere without it. And well, they weren’t entirely wrong

Bepo looked every bit as tired as the doctor, dragging himself across the room step by step. He was Law’s main assistant and had been helping him all night, so he couldn’t fault the man when he almost tripped over the small energetic child that had been running around the cafeteria unimpeded.

Of course, the rest of his crew still laughed, causing him to look up at them and making eye contact with Law. “Captain!” he said cheerfully, dark bags under his eyes doing nothing to dull the sunshine that was Bepo’s smile. “You were brilliant on that double by-pass earlier! How did you even know it would be-“

Bepo ran out of energy about halfway through his sentence, deflating like a balloon before even making it all the way to the table. When he did finally get to the last chair he sunk into it, and pillowed his head on his arms.

Law looked around at his entire crew, they were all dead on their feet, barely conscious, a couple had fallen asleep into their food. He wasn’t faring much better. Each and every one of them put just as much energy and effort into their work that Law did, and it caused a soft smile to flicker across his lips.

The whole crew thing had started back in med school as a joke when he first met Bepo as he was getting mercilessly bullied by Shachi and Penguin despite his size, and had grown as they started their residency at Flevance Hospital until everyone that worked in the Cardiac wing was calling him Captain and even the other sections at the hospital kept up the joke, calling them the ‘Heart Pirates’.

Law sighed, even Jean Bart had gotten in on the whole thing, Law had assumed he’d be above that, since he had transferred in from a different hospital where he was the head of his own wing. But just one week with this crew and he was jumping around the hospital with the rest of them, wearing the goofy “Jolly Roger” they had made based off his favorite tattoo. The one he’d gotten after… well.

“What are we doing this weekend?” Shachi eventually asked, picking at the salad he wasn’t going to eat. It had broken the lull in conversation that had come with Bepo’s rather dramatic entrance.

“Work,” Law said, not skipping a beat. He had three more shifts over the weekend and wouldn’t be off until Tuesday.

“Nice try Captain,” Penguin chimed in, “but we already asked Doc Kureha, and you’ve got the weekend off”

“What?” he glared, but the two just smiled.

“Yup, said you’ve been taking too many extra shifts and she didn’t want to pay you twice what your salary should be, basically told us if she needs you before Wednesday that she’d call.”

That absolute _witch_, if she wasn’t Law’s boss, he’d-

“There’s always that new carnival in town this weekend!” Jean Bart said eagerly, completely unaware that his words made Law’s heart stop.

Memories of fake smiles, pink feather boas and blood splashing everywhere as he screamed, unheard, Cora’s dying grin…

“That sounds nice right?” Bepo’s sleepy voice broke through to Law and dragged him back to the table. With any luck no one on his crew would have noticed his panic.

Pretty soon the entire table was enthused, eagerly talking about the carnival and everything they hoped to be able to do when they got there. Mirror mazes and haunted houses, carnival food, Law could feel himself getting nauseous.

It wasn’t like he had ever told them about his past. Honestly, he hadn’t ever wanted them to see him as anything other than what they already saw him as, had always worried what they would see if they knew how he had practically sold his soul to the Devil himself.

And to be fair, the jokes alone would probably kill him, Trafalgar D. Water Law, most talented Heart Surgeon in Flevance Hospital, an ex-Carne. And for just a little bit Law entertains the idea, telling his friends and turning his past into a joke, moving it away from the trauma it was. But the feeling fades and Law feels cold once again.

“So it’s agreed!” Wait, he hadn’t agreed to a damn thing, what are they _doing?!_

“Don’t make decisions on your own,” he growled.

“Oh come on Captain,” Shachi said, getting up from the table first, “you never have fun. If we didn’t drag you along with us, who knows what you’d do without work!”

“He’d probably be dissecting some poor animal,” Penguin got up too, shaking his head, “they don’t call him the surgeon of death for no reason after all.”

“You’re the _only _ones that call me that”

“I’ve heard your patients call you that too!”

“Only because you tell them fucking horror stories about me!”

Penguin shrugged, “Someone has to get their blood pumping, it good for them”

“Either way,” Shachi interrupted, “We’ll see you tomorrow Captain! Feel free to sleep in, we all know you need it.”

“And make sure you leave before curfew! We don’t want the witches to steal you away!” Bepo added as the rest of the crew got up to leave.

“That’s not what they mean by witch-hour you dolt,” Law muttered gently, he looked at his watch. He did have just enough time to get home if he left now, and he could trust Shachi and Penguin to tuck Bepo in, they lived across from him after all.

Law stood up, the table no longer welcoming without the warmth of his friends around him. He really did need to get some sleep if he was going to a carnival tomorrow.

He mulled it over in his head for a bit as he walked through the halls of the hospital, he didn’t really have to go. His crew may have talked a big game, but they would never actually make him go anywhere or do anything he was uncomfortable with.

But they would worry, maybe they’d even ask why and there was a small, selfish part of him that wanted to keep weakness like this away from them, to keep being their fearless captain. He left the hospital from the front doors, the cool night air a welcome change from the sterile feeling inside.

The walk home helped to clear his head, the streets empty this late into the evening, and the moon just bright enough to see by. It was calming to be alone like this, not locked away or hidden, but instead free to wander without the judgement or gaze of others. It was one of the things he loved about this small town, he could just walk anywhere he wanted.

Including, apparently, into things.

Law grunted as he accidentally slammed into something that forced him off his feet, sprawled across the sidewalk in an undignified heap.

“_What the hell?_”

He growled, looking up at a boyish young man, standing in the middle of the way and staring down at him. It was unnerving, his eyes were large and openly curious, a rather large scar carved under his left eye. Law was frozen in place, his gaze not daring to look away, something about him had every single one of Laws nerves on edge.

This was backwards, Law was by far the more stereotypically intimidating one between them, with his build, tattoos, and piercings. So why the hell did he feel like a rabbit looking up at a wolf?

The young man leaned over him, his face suddenly far too close, and Law found himself leaning away instinctively, putting himself into an even more vulnerable position. Chills crawled up his spine, the intensity increasing the closer the other man got. Law didn’t dare look away.

Maybe he really should have accepted one of the apartments at the Complex Bepo and the others lived at. He wouldn’t be able to walk home alone like he preferred, but he also wouldn’t be running into creepy guys that can apparently knock down people twice their size on seemingly accident at, Law let his eyes slink to his watch, _fuck_ _it’s 3am_.

He missed curfew.

Law looked back up at the stranger, he hadn’t moved any further away. But when he noticed Law looking back at him his entire face split into an unnaturally large grin, and suddenly a hand came down onto the top of Law’s head, setting his scalp aflame and freezing him in place.

_What the hell?!_

“You have pretty eyes” he finally spoke, his actual words not registering with Law at all over the simple fact that he had spoken at all, “you should come to the carnival tomorrow”

And just like that, he was gone. Leaving Law wondering just why his life always seemed to go to absolute shit when carnivals were involved.


	2. The Woman who Knows, and The Sharpshooter

Law hadn’t slept well that night, despite having dropped, exhausted into bed the second he had gotten home. His mind had been too full of the young man he had ran into during the witch hour, how he had stared, eyes wide and smile a little to big.

Why had he stayed there, prone on the ground and unmoving? Trapped like a deer in the headlights. He should have done something, anything else.

Like leaving, he was really good at that. A professional, even, at running away. He’d been running for most of his life after all. What was stopping him from running last night?

Maybe he was scared he’d be pursued, the stranger chasing him down the street in the dark as he ran was certainly a terrifying thought. But, he had to have been a foot shorter than Law, and despite his rather unhealthy habits at the hospital Law was no slouch at the gym. He could out run every person on his crew, and has.

Then again, Law reasoned to himself, thoughts long gone off track, he was at a disadvantage as well. Laid out on the sidewalk with the man standing above him, face inches away from his own as he kept leaning closer.

He hadn’t seemed at all fazed by Law’s entire body weight colliding with him either.

And why would he mention the Carnival? Was he going there today as well? Maybe he should convince the others to reschedule for tomorrow, convince them he needed more sleep. No, Law just shook his head, not all of them would be able to come then. Most of the wing had the day off because of the pile-up and Law had no doubt in his mind that was the reason Bepo had insisted on today.

Law zipped up his hoodie all the way, revealing the Heart Pirate’s jolly roger, a stark black against the yellow of the fabric. It was getting colder, well into October, and Penguin had specially ordered it with the rest of the crew’s T-shirts. He would never admit it to them, but he had gotten rather attached to it, the inner lining was softer than any hoodie he’d ever worn before and it was just ugly enough that he loved wearing it out.

His thoughts traveled back to last night against his will, what had that stranger said again? Something about his eyes? Was their color even noticeable in the dark like that?

Was anything?

Law hadn’t even seen an entire fucking person right in front of him.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and leaned back against the pillar he used as a pick-up point with his crew. A simple breathing exercise, clear his mind, push unnecessary thoughts away. It was what he did before a surgery and he found himself using it in his personal day to day life as well, replacing the cold feel of a scalpel with the familiar weight of his cane.

It worked, Law could feel himself calming, slicing away bad thoughts with a slight flick of his wrist, almost as if he was wielding a sword. Kikoku, Kikoku, he whispered. A mantra that allowed him to focus on nothing and rest his mind.

“Captain!” His crew had finally arrived, “still being creepy and cryptic I see!”

He just smiled, lowering Kikoku and leaning it against his shoulder, “You wondered what I do in my free time”

Penguin just laughed, they were supposed to pick him up over an hour ago, but Law knew better than to actually expect them to show up on time and had only been waiting twenty minutes himself. It was rather easy to keep in his crew’s groove, predictable.

“So sorry we’re late Captain!” Bepo said, getting out of the passenger seat of Jean Bart’s minivan, “the rest are going to meet us there! We were able to get almost half the wing to come!”

“Wow,” Law said entirely deadpan, climbing into the passenger seat. He had never cared all that much, but his crew insisted he get a ‘seat of honor’ and it was nice not to fold up his long legs in the smaller seats behind him. “with almost a dozen heart pirates, this carnival won’t even know what hit it.”

“Damn straight!” Uni shouted from the back, far too loud for the inside of a vehicle, and soon four other familiar voices were joining in.

“We’re gonna rip the place apart!”

“Or at least ride the fun rides, and oh! Eat all their food”

“Bepo’s got the right idea!” Shachi shouted from right behind Law, him and Penguin were in the middle, which meant poor Bepo was crushed in the back with Uni. He’d have to fix that on the way home.

Even Jean Bart was bantering, so Law just let himself smile and relax into his seat, the drive wouldn’t be long, and he enjoyed his crew’s antics despite his prickly exterior. He tried not to think about how they were driving to an unknown carnival, and he _definitely_ didn’t think about the stranger with the scar and the too wide grin.

The carnival had a pirate theme. At least, Law assumed it did, “The Grand Line Carnival” was an absolute mess of a place. There was a single Jolly-Roger flying at the entrance, with a goofy straw-hat on it. Probably to make it goofier for the children.

More palatable for parents.

The rest of the theme wasn’t quite as clear from what he could see outside the gates, it was more jumbled and mix matched, almost as if it had been pieced together bit by bit from the remains of other carnivals and circuses. It made Law’s skin crawl. The tower looked like a giant tree, maybe a forest theme, while the Ferris wheel had some kind of library or book theme to it.

Then again, it was a more cutthroat business than it had any right to be, and Law knew that better than anyone. He was, after all, the one who burned down ‘Dressrosa’s Puppet Show and Circus’.

No more cutthroat than that.

“Welcome to the Grandline gentlemen!” A smooth, well practiced voice greeted them. The ticket taker was an attractive older woman with dark skin and a strong nose. She smiled as he stepped forward, “Can I interest you in- oh!”

She looked surprised as they met eyes, a common reaction, unfortunately, to his rather unusual eye color. “Gold…” she whispered softly, “You must be him then”

To say he was taken off guard would be an understatement, Law found himself gripping Kikoku unconsciously, the stranger’s grin slipping to the forefront of his mind.

But then the woman’s expression settled into rehearsed porcelain once more and she smiled, just natural enough that Law found himself relaxing as well. “Our hundredth visitor that is! Congratulations!”

Shachi shoved Law forwards with an overly enthusiastic pat to his back, “Way to go Captain!”

“If you could give me your wrist Mr. Trafalgar?” the woman asked, Law complied awkwardly.

“It’s Doctor” He muttered, not really caring.

“Oh?” Her eyes were sharp, she was more interested than she should be, unless she was flirting? No, she didn’t strike him as the type.

She stamped a small black X into his wrist, one of the few spots still unmarked. Law rubbed at the mark the second he got his wrist back, and he had the feeling he was being dismissed as she continued to work with the rest of the crew that had come with him.

Before long they were good to go and the Ticket lady was was more giving her rehearsed spiel to new customers. But before he could think too much about the strangeness of the interaction, Bepo grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the gates, where the rest of the crew, led by Ikkaku and Clione were waiting.

“Hey Captain” Ikkaku said, drawing her groups attention to his own, “looks like everyone made it.”

“Looks like it”

Everyone was wearing the dumb shirts, a sea of white, with the exception of Bepo’s XXL orange from when he had jokingly declared Bepo his first mate and the rest of the crew had jumped on it. At least it would be hard for any of them to get lost in a crowd.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Shachi shouted, impatient. Law chuckled before leading the way through the gates. As he passed through he felt, odd, like all of a sudden dozens of eyes were focused on him, it was uncomfortable and he automatically wanted to leave.

Had the feeling that if he didn’t leave now, there wouldn’t be a chance later. But he chocked it up to his history and stepped forward. Soon enough the rest of his crew was running around like they owned the place and Law had no choice but to follow in their wake.

That was the best part of his crew, they didn’t expect him to have their levels of energy, or even to always be participating. They just wanted him to be there with them, and Law always felt important, included. Not just a puppet.

He shook that thought out of his head, grip on Kikoku tightening, and followed the white shirts straight to the Pay-to-play games. Because what was the point of medical school if you can’t pay buckets of money for absolutely useless trinkets.

The first stand was covered in latex balloons with a colorful bug theme with beetles painted on the wood and small paper butterflies pinned around the walls, that had Law wondering exactly how it tied into a Pirate theme.

At least until he saw the small Jolly Roger flying in the corner, the same goofy hat. His crew may be full of veritable children, but at least their Jolly Roger looked cooler than that. Not a sentiment he’d ever express aloud however.

It was almost enchanting how poorly put together this place was.

“Come right up!” called the carnival attendant, a younger man with a long nose and thick curly hair, “Test your skill against Captain Usopp! The Greatest Sharp Shooter in the Seven Seas! With this dart game, the Bug Blaster!”

Law snorted, this guy really went all out on the mix matched theme, wearing what looked like bug-catching clothes while shouting things like ‘captain’ and ‘seven seas’. Shachi and Penguin were already pulling out their wallets, eager to prove themselves better than the self-proclaimed sharpshooter.

Ikkaku was already wondering off, looking for the next game, while Bepo stayed and cheered them on. Law just chuckled to himself, this place clearly didn’t take itself too seriously and Law found himself relaxing in the knowledge of it.

He watched as each member of his crew made complete fools of themselves in increasing attempts to win various stuffed prizes to show off to each other as evidence of their superiority over each other. It seemed ridiculous to Law, at least until he caught sight of an overly large stuffed polar bear hanging over the water-gun race and labelled as the ‘Ultimate Prize’.

Law’s breath caught at the sight of its overstuffed cheeks and he found himself migrating towards it like a magnet.

“How do I win that?” he asked the carnival worker, pointing at the bear, his voice sharp and pointed in his excitement.

“Eeeep!” he jumped, likely taken aback by Law’s sudden question and intimidating presence. He seemed to freeze as they locked eyes, “you…”

“The Bear,” Law asked again, impatient with the man’s jumpy nature.

“The bear?” the man looked confused for a second before following where Law had been pointing “Ah! The Bear!”

He seemed to relax, falling back into his carnival worker persona. “for That my friend, you have to best Me! Captain Usopp! The Greatest Sharpshooter in the Seven Seas!”

Law rolled his eyes as he leaned closer, as if to whisper conspiratorially, “and I’ll warn you, I’ve almost never been bested!”

“Almost?” Law said distractedly, throwing a five dollar bill at him, not so confident then.

At least, that was what he had assumed, until he found himself falling behind and completely defeated. He just growled, throwing a twenty this time, “again”

The man just smiled, confident with his victory, and Law threw a glare at him. If only to watch the man flinch. A small satisfaction when his prize was still a won game away.

This time Law knew the controls a bit better, and could aim properly, but despite it, he was still falling behind. The carnival worker no doubt had years of experience, but the added level of skill and inhuman ability to concentrate had Law gritting his teeth in frustration.

Two games in a row, this man had perfect scores.

The third game had Law sacrifice his score to watch his competitor, his hand didn’t waiver once, but occasionally his eyes would flick over to the side and Law could see the jumpy man from earlier peek through his personality a little.

For the fourth game, Law insisted they switch seats, three perfect scores in a row wasn’t setting well with him, but it ended the same way as the second. Law falling behind with only a second to spare.

He had to break this man’s concentration, and he wasn’t afraid of a little foul play to get what he wanted.

That’s one of the reasons why Doffy had liked him so much.

Law pulled out another five dollars. His pride was on the line now as well, his entire crew having noticed him and he could feel their eyes, and their expectations on his back. He wouldn’t lose this time.

“Last try?” Captain Usopp joked, tucking the money away.

“Something like that” he deadpanned, shrugging off his hoodie to show off his tattoos and cracking his neck a couple of times. The other man gulped, eyes widening as he took in the obvious threat.

Law leaned Kikoku against the booth, well within reach, and noticed as the man’s eyes followed the movement, before quickly flicking up to Law’s face. He glared and the man flinched. Good.

He smiled, Captain Usopp was almost shaking, his nerves clearly getting the best of him, “You’re a talented shot”

“Was that a threat?!” he jumped, practically flying out of his seat before apparently realizing himself, “err, I mean, Of course I am! I’m Captain Usopp! The Greatest-“

“We can skip that” Law drawled, picking the gun back up and preparing for the next game. He needed a perfect score or there would be no hope at all. Even a distracted Captain Usopp was unlikely to lose.

“Right!” He chirped, voice small. He started the game.

Neither of them made a single mistake, but Law could tell the man’s attention was split, his eyes flitting over to him constantly. Law reached out his right hand, careful to keep his score perfect, his hand going to Kikoku and he pulled it towards him. A sharp movement that had his competition flinching, hard, before Law simply settled it closer. Disguising the action as a natural, subconscious one.

Law smiled as he pulled ahead, just barely. The flinch had costed him precious seconds and Law was almost giddy with excitement. Not that he allowed it to show on his face, he hadn’t felt this enthusiastic about a challenge in years.

At least not one that didn’t have rather deadly consequences.

The goofy award noise was music to Law’s ears and he finally allowed himself to relax, dropping the gun and putting his hoodie back on. It really was too cold to be taking it off like that.

“Wow,” Usopp said, staring at him, most of the fear fading away as he realized what exactly had happened. He handed Law the his prize and a small smile crested his face for a moment. “No wonder he likes you”

All at once, Law’s mood dropped, those words sending chills down his spine.

“Who-“ he tried to ask, stepping forward. But the man was already helping his next group of customers, voice loud and boasting.

Law’s thoughts were travelling a mile a minute, was he talking about the young man from last night? Did he know him? How did he recognize Law? Were there others at the carnival that were expecting him?

Why was he the only one that seemed to realize how weird this place was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry the first chapter was really short, and doubly sorry there's no Luffy in this one, but a lot of the focus right now is the introduction of the carnival and its weirdness. I wanted to try my hat at writing something a little more off-kilter, so I want this to lean towards more horror themes. Let me know how I'm doing at that as I tend to write more comedy stories so I value input!  
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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